The Taft High girls basketball team closed out the regular season with a tough loss Friday evening after the Bakersfield Christian Eagles came back to defeat the Lady Wildcats 51-46.

Bakersfield Christian had the early momentum after jumping out to a 5-2 advantage. The Lady Wildcats roared back with seven unanswered points thanks in part to Caitlyn Emberson's layup to put Taft up by four.

The Lady Eagles narrowed the deficit to one before taking over the lead 38 seconds into the second quarter.

Taft and Bakersfield Christian would trade baskets before the Lady Eagles strung together four straight points to lead 16-13. After Taft cut the deficit to one, Bakersfield Christian regained a three-point advantage with 2:37 to go. Following the basket, Bakersfield Christian would score only one more field goal the rest of the half. In the meantime, Taft bounced back with a 6-2 run to lead 21-20 at the halftime break.

Starting with Kennedy Kunce's layup, the Lady Wildcats threatened to pull away with seven straight points. After Bakersfield Christian trimed the lead four, Taft took off again to lead by eight. Bakersfield Christian fought back in the final 2:22 to narrow the deficit to 34-32.

Taft held the lead early in the fourth quarter until the Lady Eagles scored on a putback and a free throw to overtake the lead. Halle Neher tied up the game with a free throw but Bakersfield Christian outscored Taft 13-8 the rest of the way to win the game.